IN EVERY NATION WHERE THERE HAVE BEEN PRISONERS' MOVEMENTS, SUCH MOVEMENTS HAVE BEEN BASED EITHER OUTSIDE THE WALLS (COMPRISED PRIMARILY OF NON-PRISONERS AND EX-OFFENDERS) OR INSIDE THE PRISONS (MORE CLOSELY APPROXIMATING A TRUE PRISONERS' UNION MOVEMENT). ANOTHER CRUCIAL DISTINCTION IS BASED ON THE IDEOLOGIES OF THESE MOVEMENTS. THEY TEND TO SPLIT INTO: 1) THOSE WHICH FOCUS ON CONCRETE AID AND SERVICES TO INMATES AND 2) THOSE WHICH ARE PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH ABSTRACT ISSUES. SEVERAL EUROPEAN NATIONS HAVE WITNESSED THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRISONER'S MOVEMENTS, BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE PRISONS. THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND GOALS OF THESE MOVEMENTS HAVE VARIED SIGNIFICANTLY, AND IN THIS ARTICLE EACH NATIONS'S EXPERIENCE IS ANALYZED IN ORDER TO CONVEY THESE DIFFERENCES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS. THE AMERICAN PRISONERS' MOVEMENT IS ALSO EXAMINED, FROM THE FIRST PRISONERS' UNION STARTED IN FOLSOM PRISON IN 1970 TO THE MORE RECENT EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH PRISONERS' UNIONS. A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE FUTURE OF PRISONERS' UNIONS IS ALSO INCLUDED....DMC